A large number of human placenta samples have been collected from a multi-racial cohort children health study at the Boston Medical Center and another study entitled "Family and Children of Ukraine". The work proposed here is a small project aimed at developing a laboratory procedure for the analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in human placental tissues. The work will include three tasks: analytical method development and validation, examination on the integrity of stored samples, and a preliminary data collection. We will explore the applicability of a matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) method and compare it with the standard and conventional procedures. Analytical sensitivity enhancement will be through the optimization of the GC injection process using a programmable temperature vaporization (PTV) large volume injector. The result of this work will be needed to initiate future comprehensive studies on prenatal exposure of human to PBDEs. A laboratory procedure is to be developed in order to understand how a wide-spread environmental pollutant affects the health of human fetus before babies are born. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]